2nd s. X. July 21. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



53 



Dear old Dan Lydgate, whose boyish "lust" 

 was — 



" Rediere chirstoonj'S for to telle, 

 Than gon to chirche or heere the sacry belle ;" 



afterwards, when he grew up and became a monk, 

 rhymed many a sweet verse for the instruction as 

 well as the solace of his readers. All through his 

 poems he gives utterance, as a matter of course, 

 to such words as these : — 



" Lord bryng us al to thyn enheritance 



Withe thi precious bloode, as thou us bought." 



His Minor Poems, edited by Mr. Halliwell for 

 the Percy Society, are full of beautiful pieces 

 which might be quoted at length, such as "Let 

 Devoute Peple kepe observaunce," the " Devo- 

 tions of the Fowls," &c. In his " Processioune of 

 Corpus Chris ti," he says : — 



" First that this fest may be the more magnifyed, 

 Seothe and considrithe in yowre imagynatif. 



For Adam his synne how Crist was crucifyed. 

 Upon a crosse to stynten al oure stryf ; 



Fruy t celestial hang on the tre of lyf," &c. — p. 95. 



In the " Legend of St. Austin at Compton," 

 the saint is made thus to speak : — 



" Thynk how Ihesus bouhte us with his blood, 

 Oonly of mercy suflfryd passioun, 

 For mannys sake was nayled on the rood. 

 Rive to the herte for our redempcioun," &c. 



p. 146. 

 "Lydgate's Testament" is full to overflowing with 

 such sentiments ; and according to the good old 

 monk : — 



" No song so swete unto the audience 

 As is Ihesus, now so fal of plesaunce 



In this name moost sovereyn of vertu 

 Stant hool our hoope and al our assuraunce," &c. 



p. 233. 



" Witheynne my closet, and in my litil couche, 

 O blissid Ihesu ! and by my beddys side 

 That noon enmy nor no feend shal me touche, 

 The name of Ihesu with me shal evir abyde ! " 



p. 235. 



"This name Ihesus, by interpretacioun. 



Is for to seyne our blyssid Saviour, 

 Our strong Sampson that stranglyd the lioun, 



Our lord, our maker, and our creatour ; 

 And by his passioun fro deth our redemptour," &c. 



" At wellys five licour I shal drawe. 



To wasshe the rust of my synnys blyve 



I meene the wellys of Cristis woundys five, 



Wherby we cleyme of merciful pite 

 Thoruhe helpe of Ihesu, at gracious poort t'aryve, 



Ther to have mercy kneelyng on our kue," &c. 



p. 238. 



D. Rock. 

 Brook Green, Hammersmith. 



! (To be concluded in our nexf) 



SHAKSPEARE MUSIC. 

 (2°"* S. ix. 283.) 



Dr. Arne's beautiful setting of Amiens' song, 

 "Blow, blow, thou winter wind" {As You Like 

 It), is known to all. Mr. W. Linley has remarked 

 the fact that the Doctor, in his setting, has .omitted 

 the burthen — "Then heigho-ho, the holly," &c. 

 This, accordingly, Mr. Linley has composed him- 

 self; and, in his Dramatic Songs of Shakspeare, 

 has added it to Dr. Arne's composition. R. J. 

 Stevens has set " Blow, blow, thou winter wind " 

 (burthen included), as a glee for soprano, alto, 

 tenor, and base ; and Sir H. Bishop has har- 

 monised Dr. Arne's air for four male voices (for 

 introduction into The Comedy of Errors), adding, 

 by the permission of Mr. Stevens, the burthen 

 from his glee. 



R. J. Stevens's favourite setting (as a glee) of 

 " Y"ou spotted snakes " (Midsummer Night's 

 Dream), is, I find, not the only composition in 

 that form to those words. In a concert-book 

 (Salisbury, 1792,) lent to me by a friend, amongst 

 the glees announced to be sung at the Assembly 

 Room on Thursday evening, August 23, 1792, 

 will be found " You spotted snakes," with only 

 the initials W. B. E. affixed to it. This seemed 

 to differ in treatment from Mr. Stevens's setting 

 (which closes at the "Lullaby") by adding the 

 2nd Fairy's words : — 



" Hence away, now all is well ;] 

 One, aloof, stand centinel." 



Subsequently I chanced upon this very com- 

 position, as I may presume, in print, with the com- 

 poser's name given at length as W. l5. Earle, Esq. 

 The last two lines were treated as a " spiritoso 

 movement. " You spotted snakes" also occurs in 

 J. C. Smith's opera of The Fairies, wherein the 

 words are set as a solo for Titania. This arrange- 

 ment necessitating some little change in the words, 

 "owr fairy queen" becomes "the fairy queen," and 

 the line — 



" Come our lovely lady nigh," — 



is abrogated for — 



" Come the fairy's pillow nigh." 



" Crabbed Age and Youth" (Passionate Pil- 

 grim) has been very beautifully set by Mr. R. J. 

 Stevens as a glee for four male voices, and is a 

 well-known composition. There are at least three 

 other settings of these words : one of these, by 

 Signor Giordan! (about 1780), ig a duett, appar- 

 ently either for sopranos or tenors ; the other two 

 settings are both by Sir H. Bishop, — the first 

 as a song for Olivia in Twelfth Night, and the 

 second, a totally different composition, is a dra- 

 matic trio for Rosalind, Celia, and Touchstone, 

 and was written for a musical revival of As You 

 Like It. 



Since I wrote the previous paper I have found 

 that to the five settings therein named, of " Or- 



